-WHAT?-
With more than 70 Co-events under the community’s belt, you may have thought you’d seen and done everything… until now. Prepare for glitter, tiaras, #FashionWatch2k17 and aubergine emojis. And that’s just on me.

But for those of you with a less glittery constitution, fear not: all the normal Countdown stuff will take precedence. Everyone will play 6 games of 9 rounds, Lincoln style, after which the top 2 players will play each other in the 15-round grand final. There will be prizes – not just for the top 3, but for other achievements throughout the day, plus spot prizes. Not to mention all the FOCAL points you can pick up! And hopefully there’ll be lots of Countdowners, both new faces and old, who you can play against, socialise with and befriend. (For an idea of what Co-events are like, please have a look at http://www.focalcountdown.co.uk - there are plenty of pictures to see and reports/experiences available to read, plus FAQs and further resources!)

-WHERE?-
This will all be happening in London (as you may have gathered from the event title), making it the first Countdown tournament held there since 2014, and FOCAL's first ever event there. Whether you think our capital city is a historic, multicultural, creative and vibrant metropolis or a shithole full of shit twats who have a cereal café and pay £6 for a slice of toast, it’s kind of a big deal.

Specifically, it’ll be taking place in central London at a pub named The Blacksmith and The Toffeemaker, just five minutes’ walk from Angel tube station on the Northern Line, or within 45 minutes’ walk of most major London terminus stations - including King's Cross, Euston, London Bridge and Liverpool Street - if you’re feeling brave. The venue does very reasonably priced food (menu here: http://www.theblacksmithandthetoffeemaker.co.uk/food)

-WHEN?-
Doors will open at 11.30am with the draw being made at midday, which gives you plenty of time to travel up on the day, or have a lie-in if you’re nearby. We’ll be vacating the room at 6pm – the plan is to move into the main bar area afterwards.

-STAYING OVER-
If you want to make a weekend of it – and you should, because it means more pub time with the Countdown #lads and #ladettes, and you get an opportunity to see all the good stuff London has to offer outside of the usual tourist traps! – you may notice that London accommodation is frighteningly expensive! Here are some websites where you may find a cheaper bed for the night.

- AIRBNB: Rent someone’s room or flat – but hurry, London’s a popular destination! http://tinyurl.com/colonairbnb
- COUCHSURFING: If you’re feeling brave, sign up and get the chance to stay on someone’s couch for free. Hosts get reviewed by guests, so you can stay safe by picking someone with good reviews! https://www.couchsurfing.com/
- HOSTELWORLD: Hire a dorm bed for the night if you’re a heavy sleeper and don’t mind sharing your space. http://tinyurl.com/colonhostels
- EASYHOTEL: Their no-frills rooms in Old Street are a steal, and it’s just 15 minutes’ walk from the venue. http://www.easyhotel.com/
- TRAVELODGE: There are several within walking distance of the venue, from as little as £25 a night (if you share with 2 people). https://www.travelodge.co.uk/

There are plenty of sites offering cheap hotel rooms online too.

-WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE?-
Yes (only the women’s toilet is big enough for a wheelchair, but the venue is fine with men in wheelchairs using it).

-SIGN UP NOW!-
There are more exciting developments to be announced in due course… Get signing up sooner rather than later so you don’t miss out on the pure jazz of CO:LON:17!! xoxo

Amazing response so far... 12 sign-ups in 3 days! People are keen, so if you're sure you're coming, don't delay - pay up sooner rather than later to ensure you don't miss out on the fun. You can be refunded at a later date if something even more pressing crops up. (It won't.)

Gavin Chipper wrote:You might have said somewhere already, but is there a specific cap on numbers?

I have not. At the moment, I'm going to tentatively say it's 45. (So, like, it's over a quarter full already.) But I'm looking into the possibility of hiring their smaller second room as well to fit another 15-20 in. I don't know if 65 is likely, but it's not unrealistic.

Really I need to go back to the venue and have a proper fiddle with the furniture to see what's comfortably possible. (The owners said it tends to be quiet on a Saturday afternoon, so if it's desperately snug in the main room, I doubt it would be an issue for people to spill over into the main pub area - they don't have a TV in there that will be distracting players, nor loud music as far as I remember.)

Matt Morrison wrote:What does it have out of the usual Co-event joys; quiz machine, pool table, darts board?

From memory it has none, although I could be wrong. Ideally I would've loved to have had those things, but London is hideous for finding a good, affordable venue. I looked for several months for a viable venue (capable of holding 40 people or more), and barely anywhere was less than £1000 for hire or minimum spend, unless it was super hard to get to in south London or way out in zone 4 or whatever. The board games cafe quoted me £7000 for hire. So when I found a venue which is more or less free (aside from an early opening charge), very centrally located, offers affordable food and is pretty much accessible, that was that.

However, you have just given me an idea, so watch this space.

Matt Morrison wrote:Have you scouted out any awesome after party pubs?

Not yet, but one of my non-Countdown friends who's planning to come along lives about 20 minutes' walk away, so I'll ask her for some recommendations.

Cool! Yeah, the Countdown venue itself doesn't need any of those things - events themselves always benefit from these things overall, but that's what you go looking for afterwards. It's nice to take in a few different locations. As you say, not so easy in London these days (particularly with the pool table I think) but we'll see.

I'm probably not coming to the event, but I might be around afterwards. Either way, the Old China Hand (the after pub for Comultilon) is very near the venue and has ping pong, darts and board games. Just a thought.

I'm not going to be able to do my local parkrun and get here in time, so I've decided that, as long as the trains are running properly, I might get into London early and do a parkrun nearby. My research leads me to believe that the nearest parkrun to CO:LON is the Highbury Fields one. It seems slightly mental because it's five laps though. It's about 1.5 miles from the venue, which would mean that there would be more than enough time to get there (if you finish running at about 9:30 that gives you two hours until the doors even open), so if people want to do a parkrun, it doesn't have to be this one.

Edit - And if the trains are playing up, I normally have to get a replacement bus into Newbury Park before getting the Central Line into London proper. The Valentines parkrun is quite near to Newbury Park station, so I might do that one.

Capacity for the definitely-booked room is 42; capacity for the potential second room is 30. Potential capacity of 72... but only if there's sufficient interest. I've got a month to make the decision about booking the second room. Let me know if you're interested, even if you're not sure yet if you can definitely attend, and invite others along too!

I'm not going to be able to do my local parkrun and get here in time, so I've decided that, as long as the trains are running properly, I might get into London early and do a parkrun nearby. My research leads me to believe that the nearest parkrun to CO:LON is the Highbury Fields one. It seems slightly mental because it's five laps though. It's about 1.5 miles from the venue, which would mean that there would be more than enough time to get there (if you finish running at about 9:30 that gives you two hours until the doors even open), so if people want to do a parkrun, it doesn't have to be this one.

Edit - And if the trains are playing up, I normally have to get a replacement bus into Newbury Park before getting the Central Line into London proper. The Valentines parkrun is quite near to Newbury Park station, so I might do that one.

I was sure I just posted this, but it looks like I don't have to put up with replacement buses, so I can probably do any of the central-ish London parkruns.

Sorry if this is a bit off-topic but I'm just a little excited about CO:LON having recognised several of the names on the competitors list from watching the show! I'm a newbie and armchair (well, wheelchair) enthusiast, Vikash Shah (aka Vik). The pub can give the cleaners the day off, because you will all be wiping the floor with me, but I'm sure it'll be fun. I have not even looked at this forum for about 5 years so I'm very out of touch! But hello to everyone!

Sorry if this is a bit off-topic but I'm just a little excited about CO:LON having recognised several of the names on the competitors list from watching the show! I'm a newbie and armchair (well, wheelchair) enthusiast, Vikash Shah (aka Vik). The pub can give the cleaners the day off, because you will all be wiping the floor with me, but I'm sure it'll be fun. I have not even looked at this forum for about 5 years so I'm very out of touch! But hello to everyone!

I'm not going to be able to do my local parkrun and get here in time, so I've decided that, as long as the trains are running properly, I might get into London early and do a parkrun nearby. My research leads me to believe that the nearest parkrun to CO:LON is the Highbury Fields one. It seems slightly mental because it's five laps though. It's about 1.5 miles from the venue, which would mean that there would be more than enough time to get there (if you finish running at about 9:30 that gives you two hours until the doors even open), so if people want to do a parkrun, it doesn't have to be this one.

Edit - And if the trains are playing up, I normally have to get a replacement bus into Newbury Park before getting the Central Line into London proper. The Valentines parkrun is quite near to Newbury Park station, so I might do that one.

As an update to this, it now seems that the Highbury Fields parkrun is definitely the one to do. If you're coming, remember your barcode etc., and if you haven't already, you can register here. There will be loads of time between the run and CO:LON starting, so I suggest that we have breakfast somewhere in between. There's a Wetherspoons near the parkrun (The White Swan), and also one nearer the CO:LON venue (The Angel). Either should work or some other option, and we can fight about it on the day.

I'm not going to be able to do my local parkrun and get here in time, so I've decided that, as long as the trains are running properly, I might get into London early and do a parkrun nearby. My research leads me to believe that the nearest parkrun to CO:LON is the Highbury Fields one. It seems slightly mental because it's five laps though. It's about 1.5 miles from the venue, which would mean that there would be more than enough time to get there (if you finish running at about 9:30 that gives you two hours until the doors even open), so if people want to do a parkrun, it doesn't have to be this one.

Edit - And if the trains are playing up, I normally have to get a replacement bus into Newbury Park before getting the Central Line into London proper. The Valentines parkrun is quite near to Newbury Park station, so I might do that one.

As an update to this, it now seems that the Highbury Fields parkrun is definitely the one to do. If you're coming, remember your barcode etc., and if you haven't already, you can register here. There will be loads of time between the run and CO:LON starting, so I suggest that we have breakfast somewhere in between. There's a Wetherspoons near the parkrun (The White Swan), and also one nearer the CO:LON venue (The Angel). Either should work or some other option, and we can fight about it on the day.

Sounds good, Highbury Fields is just one tube stop away from where I'm staying so will join you for that. Might skip breaky as I think I have breakfast included in my stay

(Reposting from the FB event page for those that don't have Facebook!)

After 2 days of recuperation, it's finally time for me to write a self-indulgent post-event THANK YOU message.

I'm incredibly touched and humbled by how many of you supported CO:LON (and brought your friends along!), and by all the kind words afterwards. It was wonderful to see so many people - my closest friends, people I've known for over a decade, people I'd never met previously, and even my mum Caroline (2nd best debutant, yay!) - playing Countdown and getting to know each other. Thank you to all of you not only for turning up, but for being friendly and supportive to each other: several new players have had the highest praise for the community and how welcome it made them feel. Many have also said they'd like to come to future events - that above all makes it feel like a success!

Just to reiterate: the biggest thanks in the world go to Graeme, Ross and Rebecca - all of you were instrumental to the unexpectedly smooth running of the day. Thank you also to Mark for human megaphone duties, Caroline for helping shift stuff up to London, and James and Lauren for hosting the final. Congratulations again to first-time Co-event champion Oliver and gracious runner-up Robert for being the only 2 unbeaten players after the heats.

Also shoutouts for all the new players who took a leap of faith to get into this weird world - especially to my non-Countdowny friends Sara, Emily, Leah, Imogen and Eleni. I didn't actually expect any of you to come along, so thank you for doing so, because it meant a lot - I hope you all enjoyed it! <3